CLAREMONT — A 33-year-old Claremont man involved in a police standoff 2½ months ago will stay in custody until his trial after a judge cited concerns over his ability to keep up with his mental health treatment.

In a decision handed down Tuesday, Sullivan Superior Court Judge Brian Tucker ordered that Arnulfo Urista be held in jail until his trial on charges of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon and criminal threatening with a deadly weapon. Urista is accused of pointing a gun at his mother in their Claremont apartment on Aug. 27, inciting the seven-hour standoff.

Tucker wrote “there was no dispute” that Urista was suffering from mental health issues during the incident.

Urista was initially ordered detained pending trial and was sent to New Hampshire Hospital for a mental health evaluation and treatment. Near the end of his stay, he signed an agreement to take medication and attend treatment appointments for two years if he is released, according to the order.

Urista’s attorneys, arguing for his release, have said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder during his time in the hospital, that he had no violent outbursts while there, and that a hospital psychiatrist has determined he is “not an imminent danger to himself or others,” according to the order.

But Tucker questioned whether Urista would be able to maintain his treatment on his own.

“Presently, there is no evidence of safeguards in place to ensure that once released, the defendant will take his medication as prescribed, attend treatment sessions, and follow other likely conditions,” he wrote in the order, adding that he would consider a plan for release if it included “sufficient monitoring” by others.

“Until then, based on clear and convincing evidence of dangerousness, the defendant shall be detained pending trial,” Tucker wrote.

The decision follows an Aug. 27 standoff at an apartment Urista shares with his mother on North Street in Claremont, according to an affidavit written by Claremont police Officer Denis O’Sullivan.

The incident began after Urista came out of his room, carrying a gun and acting like he might shoot himself, according to the affidavit. He then waved the gun around in the air and pointed it at his mother Nancy Urista, who convinced him to put the gun down before she escaped the apartment and called police, according to the affidavit.

Nancy Urista told police her son had been suffering from mental health issues recently and that she had been scared to sleep at her home, O’Sullivan wrote.”

Police shut down part of the street and negotiated with Urista for around seven hours before he agreed to come downstairs and be taken into custody.

Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.